It’s the distant future and mankind has expanded beyond its solar system. After spending several centuries traveling, expanding and populating, humans perfected the use of wormhole technology. But wormhole technology comes with a price: it consumes a natural resource found only in particular systems. Many more decades passed as humans built and placed the wormhole devices at strategic points in their little section of the galaxy, thus creating a network of “jump points.” During this time, Mankind had been aware of a war that spanned the galaxy, though known only by the effects their technology left behind. Through research and investigation, humans had learned that there was a massive war taking place between two powerful races: the benevolent Aeryopolis (silvery bird-like creatures that are described as looking like mercury), and the ruthless Kreen (bizarre looking creatures thought to have once had the ability to change their appearance at will. There is no current record of what...

With 2003 almost behind us, it is time to look at the year that was 'modification explode' and scope out what captured gamers imaginations, hearts and of course many hours behind the PC playing that beloved mod. Did your mod make the list?

With 2003 now behind us, it is time to look at the year that was the 'modification explosion' and scope out what captured gamers imaginations, hearts and of course many hours behind the PC playing that beloved mod over and over again!

But first, for the first timers here is a quick intro to modding. Mods (short for "modification") is simply a new game based on the game engine. The changes could be relatively minor, such as a mod that allows server-operators more control over death match game rules, or they could be so extreme as to make a completely new game (although these are usually referred to as Total Conversions (TC) or Partial Conversions (PC)).

These days mods are to games what butter is to bread. With that year we saw many game companies holding more mod expose to teach or share (the tools) on how to mod. We saw more schools offering scholarships to game design this year. Many game designers played one mod before they put all the imagination they had into moving onto games.

Mods they are fun, original and extend the lifespan of a game to be virtually never-ending. With making mods you the creator have the entire world in front of you to decide what to make. Some mods have been stopped for not getting permission and the mods below are proof of doing it the correct way.

Half life was released back in 1998. It was an instant success and won the title of best of game of the year by most of the reputable gaming magazines. Half Life is a first person shooter, with the goal of escaping from a giant complex, which had been infested with alien creatures from another world. Half Life also came with the ability to play against friends on the internet or on a LAN. This game, despite been *old* in computer terms is still fun to play, which can be 100% accredited to the modifications created for it. With the news of Half Life 2 and Day of Defeat and Counterstrike released as (PC) games with the help of the same developers of Half Life, everyone just sits and waits and upgrades computers to possible play Half Life 2 when it is released.

The world of Mods helps to illustrate the changing nature of the video game world. The same way that video game players have an interaction with the video games, the gamers now have an interaction with the game developers. Mods to video games help to underline the components of a game that gamers like the most. Mods underscore the fundamentals of the original game by bringing the best features of the original game to the lime light.

With we saw this year more mod contests for prizes and money. In 2003 we saw a mod based off a movie to help promote the movie Underworld: Bloodline Half-Life Mod. We have seen great looking mods with plenty still to come and yes we saw some die that just could'nt make it for some reason.

As I have said in the past mods go as far as 21 years ago. One such mod will be at its 20th year in 2003. Castle Smurfenstein, was a parody of Castle Wolfenstein, with the tools they used to create the mod makes mods today seem like a full time job.

DOOM became the first game to be non stop modified then Quake 1, and Quake 2 later on. Half Life was next and a mod could even be said to have surpassed the game. It is of course Counter Strike loved by many. Either way the team got paid and we didn't. With Half Life 2 and Doom 3 on the way we can only sit and wait to see what is made and if it's the next best thing to hit the mod scene!

The idea of this article is to show the world and you noobs who live under a rock that sexy mods exist and no they are not Counter Strike. The first group of mods I will explain are mods released this year in 2003. If I didn't list a mod that was out in 2003 I am sorry. We set up a forum thread and so many people posted mods. Many of them were not mods that released in 2003. Some mods are not out yet. The rest of this is mods everyone voted on to say they loved them or thought highly of them.

Random Assortment of Modders / Gamers 2003 Wisdom

BlueWolf72's wrote: What can I say about 2003? I can say "Va Va Voom". This year was an amazing year for mods and mod fans. Just Remember "Play mods or they won't survive. Make mods that are different or they'll be overlooked. Make games because you love to or they'll be uninspired!"

INtense's wrote: Each year, since Half-life’s release in 1998, people have predicted it to lose some of its following, as people shift to other games, new games, console games and so on. Each year this has been wrong, as Half-life’s fanbase expands its reach, becoming a true behemoth.

2004 won’t see this change however what I believe we will see is the shift from Half-life to the next generation of games (and new engines) such as Half-life 2, Doom 3 as we have already seen this year, with the hugely successful Unreal Tournament 2003, which not only boasts teeth grinding, hair rising and pants wetting action, but modifications which are beginning to nail these features, delivering them smoother than a babies bottom and quicker than ever before. With this switch we will also see the next generation of modifications, and not mere continuations of the same story or theme but titles such as Counter-Strike 2, DOD2 etc...

Its going to be a huge year for all games and modifications even moreso! Forget that for the moment however, as it is going to be an even bigger year for the mod database! The long awaited version 2.0 will be released bringing with it, tons of changes which will see this site become so much more to modifications and its visitors. There will be plenty of secrets and surprises for everyone, but for the moment, lets look back on the year that was, and the modifications that we have played to death over 2003!

SeienAbunae's wrote: 2003 brought many innovative new Quake mods, such as FrikaC's Prydon Gate and Wazat's Galactix, BattleMech, and Soldat. It's really great to see the Quake mod community still thriving and still topping the game bunch in originality. I learn a lot from looking at the code of those mods Other than that, I haven't played much, except for maybe some of RenegadeC's extremely fun multiplayer mod Starship Troopers: Tactical Defense. Half-Life? Yeesh, old.

Kuja's wrote: When I first started toying around with the idea of creating a game, I never foresaw the path that I would take. I'm Kuja, and I'm the team leader of Digital Paintball. Mods to me are like the gaming industry underground. We do what we want, when we want it, without any time or societal pressures (well, almost). Our games come from communities of volunteers - we don't get paid to do this, we do it for fun. That's what makes a mod special. It's all about heart!

ShortCutMan's wrote: 2003 is the year I got rid of 56k and was able to enjoy the many more mods out there, and there was quite a few to go through. I remember playing old mods, such as Team Fortress Classic, and believing they were fantastic, but then I got my hands on the big time mods, such as Natural Selection, Day of Defeat, and Desert Combat. I couldn't believe mods had gone to an industry quality standard in a mere few years. It shows how much mods are improving by the year.

Baer's wrote: Most mods to me are a way and a means to expand upon ones experience for future gaming possibilities. Be it as a gamemaker making a living or maybe even a possible modeler. I played Battlegrounds, excellent mod now in my opinion, I played ToD, Tour of Duty, it is coming along and is gonna be a excellent mod. Most new guys and some older players of mods see a movie and think hey I wanna make a mod like that. They want to lead a mod team, but they have no experience in any aspect or have any idea of what making a mod is about. Given time and some criticism, they will learn what it takes.

deathmedic3rd's wrote: Well this year I was mostly making mods so it was the creation of something different, something you'd want to play. I also played Counter-Strike on the net for the first time brilliant.

Andrew wrote: For 2003, the creation of my modification (Operation: CO-IN) for Half-Life 2 has taken up most of my time. But, when I have had some spare time... Day of Defeat has eaten it up. Even more now with the 1.1 release that has improved many downfalls of the 1.0 version. DoD still has its flaws however. I am one for realism. That is what my mod is all about and what little has been accomplished by the mod community. There are two exceptions: Red Orchestra for UT2k3 and Hostile Intent for Half-Life. I went out and bought UT2k3 just for Red Orchestra and it is worth it! This mod is excellent! There are always the limitations of the engine though, so hasn't eaten up my time like DoD has. The other mod I mentioned is Hostile Intent. This mod has been in the making for 3 years and has been released to a select few beta testers of which I am proud to be a part of. It is a realistic Counter-Terrorism mod and lives up to its 'realistic' qualities. Finally, a mod actually doesn't just claim to be realistic, but really is. The intensity is amazing; the atmosphere and artwork is astounding. The natural flow of teamwork is also a high quality that will make this mod something to look forward to in 2004 once it becomes public. With 2004 rapidly approaching... Half-Life 2 is all that stands out for me. Once released, there are a few mods out there that will definitely be something to be looking forward to!

HTKCapt. wrote: In 1999, my youngest son gave me a game…Half-Life Game of the Year Edition…COMPLETE with Team Fortress Classic…TFC? What is this? I tried the single player HL game and then tried the multi-player…ooo k. This was interesting but unreal…I'm an ex-cop…I like realism. I tried TFC and better but not "IT". Then I found CS and it was GREAT! Just what I used to do for a living!!! What a BLAST, but then came the pub-server hacks and that sucked the fun RIGHT out of it for me! I looked a little more and found the mod of my dreams and my wife's nightmare! Day Of Defeat!!! So what have I done since then? NOTHING BUT DOD to my wife's great frustration..hehe…2003 brought me something new…Team Matching in DOD. I didn't think that online gaming could be SO MUCH FUN! I'm ADDICTED! And then I was asked by Fighting For Fun [FFF] to Captain their 2nd Match Team, Hired To Kill [HTK] competing in the Real Combat League (RCL). Thad lead to me working with the GameSHOUT Half-Life Radio staff and some GREAT fun…AND new friends from ALL over the world. I've been truly blessed and it all started with a silly little mod out there somewhere, that eventually grew up to become a COMPLETE PART OF THE HALF-LIFE EXPERIENCE. BTW…I HOPE 2004 does not bring me a DIVORCE! Cya in there all!!

Yoshiro's wrote: Well, as a member of the UT2k3 Troopers! team we have spent most of the year making that. However many of the devs have taken the time to look at other mods. This year some of the mods that have stood out at least to me and some of the others are Red Orchestra and Natural Selection. I'll add more if any other dev members think of something but these where the other mods they enjoyed during this year.

Max wrote: As 2003 comes to a close , we all want to know how Half Life is still alive =). Besides the fact that Half Life was huge for it's mods. After the announce of Half Life 2 in May , more and more mods started to spring up all of a sudden. This year was definitely the year of Day of Defeat , Natural Selection , and The Battle Grounds. These mods had tested the Half Life engine and even though the Half Life engine became 5 years old this year, the mods seemed to make it a new game. The graphical enhancements and the wonderful fun that these mods had brought us can not be copied. So as a person that has worked on a couple of mods, 2003 was the year of Half Life.

Nick wrote: 2003 has been an excellent year for mods. Swish new games such as UT2K3 have been brought to the forefront of new mods, Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 were revealed to the public, Natural Selection went to a v2, countless mods made the leap from the yellow circle to the green circle. Steam was released, seemingly to annoy everyone, and Day of Defeat went retail. In the middle of all this, new talent has been shown in the fields of modding, for new games and old. Same again next year? I think it'll be even better.

Enough of that, time to move onto the 2003 WINNERS!

Best New Comers

Troopers: Dawn of Destiny is a Star Wars mod for UT2k3. Noticed that the old listing of troopers was here and updated. Troopers currently has 2 releases out. Demo 1 and Demo release 2. The patch for Demo 2 is now out so we are updated to Troopers 2.1. We are currently testing many gameplay elements on a custom mutator mod server and would like YOUR input and things that you think would make the mod better. Speed of players, bolts, power of weapons, almost everything is subject to change. Please while trying the mod be sure to give your input.

International Online Soccer is a first person online multiplayer soccer game that aims to be the online equivalent of great console soccer games but with a true multiplayer teamplay experience.

Red Orchestra singleplayer campaign (pre- development stage), will put you into the role of a Soviet Private taken into the highly secretive and strange "Red Orchestra" spy network, which would play a key role in the downfall of Nazism.

The Pokemod envision, if you will, a 3D world populated by over 150 different species of magical creatures. These creatures range in size from a measly 1 foot tall to over 28 feet! In this world you are a trainer of these creatures. You train them for battle. Battle against other trainers to see who is the greatest.

I.C.S. is `the` must have `Balls-To-The-Walls` mod for Soldier Of Fortune II, with all new commercial quality content and improvements; not just a mod, I.C.S. is a better way to play and enjoy SOF2!

UnrealSpeed is a racing mod for Unreal Tournament 2003. Drive a car, gliding through the twists and turns to win the race. Your car is (optionally) heavily armed, so shoot your opponent into pieces if he isn't letting you get past him. Or drop a mine behind you to get rid of people that are trying to overtake you. UnrealSpeed uses on a lap-based system, the track goes in laps. All you need to do is drive smarter and faster than your opponents.

Blitzkrieg II is a World War 2 total conversion for Command and Conquer: Generals. It will change all the existing buildings and units as well as boast exciting new gameplay. Blitzkrieg II is not simply a port of Blitzkrieg I over to the new engine, it is a complete remake. Everything you loved about the RA2/YR version is here, plus many new things. The sides as of now are the Allies, Germany and Russia (with Japan possibly to be added later on).

Conflict In Somalia the Battlefield 1942 modification, takes you back in time to the events, tragedies, and bravery faced by soldiers in Somalia. Now, you and your friends can relive the event in a massive online battle that pits the American forces against Somalian troops. Command the arsenal and vehicles during that time and use precise teamwork to obtain your victories. This is no game, soldier, this is Conflict in Somalia!

Natural Selection has done very well and one of the reasons is the fact that Great Gamming sites Like ModDB have kept us so popular.
With NS 3.0 just around the corner, 2004 looks to be our best year yet!
Thanks MODDB